Cortez Conservas Bottarga

The only US made mullet bottarga available on the market. Brothers Seth and Mic Cripe, Florida natives, started Cortez Conservas with the mission of working to create high quality preserved local seafood, to support their friends and family’s way of life as fisherman and help preserve it for the livelihood of future generations. The grey mullet are fished in waters off the Florida Gulf Coast, off of Anna Maria Island and the connecting fishing village of Cortez, which are home to one of this country’s last sustaining wild fisheries. They do it all — fishing sustainably using hand-thrown cast nets, cleaning the mullet, cutting out the plump golden roe, curing the roe with kosher sea salt and then pressing and drying it to ensure optimum quality. This is all completed within days, thereby creating the freshest bottarga you will ever try. This vibrant delicacy adds a wonderful complexity to dishes with its bright flavor and balanced salinity. Many chefs turn to Cortez bottarga for their restaurants — some of which include Thomas Keller, Frank Stitt, Daniel Boulud, and John Besh to name a few.